Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/116

 A L O

(<*9)

ALP

ALOES, Aloe, in Medicine and Pharmacy, the infpiffa- The Heart, of innermofl part, is called Tambac ' arid

ted Juice of a ferulaceous Plant of the fame Name 5 much more valued by the Indians than Gold it felf. It affords a

ufed as a purgative Remedy. See Purgative. very itrong, but agreeable fmell; and is ufed as a Perfume 5

The ^tePlant grows in divers Parts of the Eaft and and is withal held a fovereign Remedy againft the Palfy,

Weft-Indies; and is alfo found in fome Countries of Europe, Deliquiums, WeakneOfes, £jc.

as Spain, and particularly the Mountains of Siera Morena. 'Tis the Calambou alone that is known among us< It ia

Its Leaves are green, very rhick, hard, and prickly; brought in fmall bits of a very fragrant fcent; efpecially

yielding a kind of Cotton, whereof Laces may be made, when cafl on the Fire, where it melts like Wax. The betl

Out of the middle of the Leaves arifes a Stem, which is of a blackilh purple Colour, and fo light as to fwim on

bears the flower, and the Fruit, the Seed whereof is very Water : It is hot and drying; and efteem'd a great Streng-

light and hemifpherical. thener of the Nerves.

Diofcorides, 'Pliny, and the antient Naturalifls, feem on- Some pharmaceutical Writers make a Diftinflion between

ly to have been acquainted with one Species of Aloes; Aloes, Lignum Aloes and Xylo Aloes; which may amount

which is the Aloe Vulgaris above delcribed : But the late to the three Orders of Wood abovemention'd. Tho among

Travels imo Afia, Africa, and America, have occafion'd us they are the fame thing.

the Difcovery of forty more forts, unknown to Antiquity. ALOETICS, Medicines wherein Aloes is the chief and

Mr. Bradley allures us, he has feen above fixty feveral Kinds fundamental Ingredient. See Aloes.

in the Phyfick-Garden at Jmfterdam. So that Aloe is The Word is form'd of Aloe, which is further derived

now become the Denomination of a Genus. — -Among the from om, the Sea, or Sail; that Plant being chiefly found

Number, however, there are not above twelve that yield near the Sea-Coafts.

the purgative Juice above mentioned. ALOGU, or Alogians, a Sect of antient Hereticks j

The Juice or ExtratS of Aloes, is ufually diftinguifh'd in- who denied that Jefui Chrilt was the Eternal Word. See

to three Kinds. — The firil, which is called Succotrine as AriAn.

being brought from Succotra, is the pureft and moil tranf- 'Theodore of "Byzantium, by Trade a Currier, having

parent; being friable, inodorous, black in the Lump, but apoflafiz'd, under rhe Perfecution of the Emperor Severus

of a beautiful yellow Colour when bruis'd. — It is brought in Skins from the Levant and Baft Indies.

The fecond is called Hepatic, becaufe of its Liver-colour : It is refinous, fmells like Myrrh, has a yellow Colour when pounded, and is brought from China. — Some confound this with the following fort; as, in effecl, there arc but two forts commonly known in our Shops.

The third is the ruoffc impure, the blackefl, and the

defend himfelf againft thofe who reproach'd him there- with, faid; That it was not God he denied, but only Man. Whence his Followers were called in Greek cLteyu, in regard they rejected the Word; from the Privative a, and boy©-, Verbum.

ALOOF, a Sea Term, fignifying as much as, keep your Luff: being a Word of Command from him that conns, to the Man at the Helm, to keep the Ship near the Wind,

ilrongefl. — It was formerly ufed by the Indians to pitch their when flie fails upon a Quarter-wind. See Conner, &c.

Veffels withal : and is of little Ufe among us, excepting tor Horfcs and Cattle^ fot which reafon it is call'd Caballine, i. e. Horfe-y^fcw.

Befides thefe, fome mention another kind of Aloes pre- pared in Barbadoes, and brought over in large Gourds: but moll Writers make this the Caballine kind

ALOPECIA, or Alopechy, in Medicine, i$c a Falling of the Hair, from what Caufe foever that arife. See Hair.

The Word is form'd from a.hini, Vulpes, a Fox; whofe Urine, it is faid, will occafion Baldncfs; or becaufe fuch a Dileafe is common to that Creature.

ALPHA, the Name of the firfl Letter of the Greek AI-

Some have imagin'd, that thefe differences of Aloes were phabct. See Letter, and Alphabet

owing only to the greater, or lefs Purification of the Juice : But this is a Miflake; it having been found that no Diffolu- tions, how often foever repeated, will change Hepatic into Succotrine, nor Caballine into Heparic Aloes.

The manner of preparing Aloes is very eafy, there being

The Alpha, in Compofirion, denotes, fometimes, 'Priva- tion, in the fame Scnfe withers?, without 3 fometimes Aug- mentation, as ayav, much; and fometimes Union, as a-y^i together.

It was alfo ufed as a Letter of Order, to denote thefirfts

nothing to do but to cut the Leaves of the Plant, and to ex- and of Number, to fignify one; but when it was a nume-

pofe the Juice that fponteneoufly oozes out of them to the rical Letter, a little Stroke, or an acute Accent was drawn

Sun, till it becomes of a proper Confluence. above it thus 'A, to diflinguifli it from the A, which was a

Aloes is extremely bitter, and purgative; externally ap- Letter of Order. r

plied, either in Subflance or Tincture, it prevents Putrcfae- The Word is originally Hebrew, and comes from fptf

tion and Gangrene. — Its Bitternefs makes it fo naufeous, that Alaph, which fignifies to learn; whence M^>N the Leader

it is tarely ufed in liquid Forms, but is generally made into cr fi r ji of a Company. In this Senfe, the Hebrews call the

Pills, wheteofhalfa Dram is an ordinary Dofe.— Scarce any j r(l L etter f the i r Alphabet Aleph, the Syrians Olaph, the

of the Officinal Pills are without this in their Compofition. Arabs Eliph, and the Greeks Alpha. See A. See Pill. Alpha and Omega, in the Divine Writings, fignify the

Its cathartick Virtue, is befl employ'd in watery, cold, Beginning and the End; and therefore the Hieroglyphick

and corpulent Conftitutions, as ir heats and attenuates; f God is f orrn y of thefe two Letters, A and a. being bad for thin and heaick Conflitutions. It is account- ALPHABET, the feveral Letters of a Language, difpo-

ed efficacious in promoting the Menfes; and is alfo good to f ed in tneir natural or accuilom'd Order. See Letter,

defltoy Worms. and Lancuace.

M. Boulduc, by his Analyfis of Aloes, has found that the The Wor(i is f oim >& f rom the Names f the tw0 fj r ft

Succotrine fcarce contains half the Refin or fulphurous Part, L etters f tnc Greek Alphabet, Alpha, Beta; which were bor-

but one third more of the falme Part, found in the Hepatic. row y f rom thofe of the Hebtcw,Aleph,8eth. See Alpha, &c. Hence the Succotrine comes to be preferable for internal j n the E ng ]ifh Alphabet we reckon 16 Letters, viz. a b

Ufes, and the Hepatic for external.

Aloe Rofata, is a Preparation of the Aloes Juice, made by diffolving it in Juice of Damask Rofcs, and evaporating

cdefghijklmnopqrfttt'wvxyz. See each under its proper Article.

But as there is a much greater Number of different

it to the Confidence of a Pafle. Then, more Juice is ad- Soun j s - m om Language; 'tis not without Reafon that fome

ded, and the Evaporation repeated, again and again.— This Grammarians maintain, that there ought ro be a greater

is held a gentler and lafer Cathartick than the Aloes alone. jj um ber of Letters : As alfo, that the double Letters, £

Aloes is alfo a kind of fragrant Indian Wood; thus an( j ^ and thc fuperfluous ones, k and g, ftiould be re- called from its exceeding Bitternefs, which refembles that trenc h'd. See Consonant, Vowel, &c. of the Aloes Juice. The French Alphabet only contains 23 Letters.— 'Pafquier

This Aloes, called alfo Agallochum, is infinitely valued;; ndee<1 ma j mains it to con fift f 2?1 by reafon he adtis the

and divers flrange Fables have been invented as to the Ori- gin of the Tree that yields it : Some feign that it grew in Paradife, and was only convey'd to us by means of the Ri- vers overflowing their Banks, and fweeping off the Trees in their way. Others fuppofe it to grow on inacceffible Mountains; where it is guarded by certain wild Bcails, &c. — The Siameje EmbafTadors to the Court of France, in 16&6, who brought a Preterit of this Wood from their Em-

two double Letters ££ for et, and * for us; but thofe are only Abbreviarures. The Abbe d ' Ar.geau, on better Grounds, reckons 34 different Sounds in the French Tongue; and urges, that the Alphabet ought of Confequence to confift of* 34 different Characters, fetting afide the double Letters x and y, and the fuperfluous one q. See French.

The Difference between Languages, with refpect to the Number of Letters, is very confiderable : The Hebrew,

peror, firfl gave the Europeans any confillent Account of it. chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan Alphabets, have each 22;

The Tree grows in China, Lao, and Cochinchma; and is the j ra y lc 2 g. me Perfian 31; the Turkifb 33; thzGcor-

much about the Size and Figure of our Olive Trees.— The &im, 6. the Cophtick 32; the Mufcovitc 43; the Greek

Trunk confitls of three forts of Wood, very different in Co- 24. tll6 Ijxtin 22 the Sc i avm j c k 27; the Dutch 16; the

lour, and Properties : Immediately under the Batk it is spanifb 27; the Italian 20; the Indians of Bengal 21 j the

black, compadl, and heavy, call'd by the 'Portuguese, 'Pao jj aramas ,„.

d'Aquila, q. d. Eagle- Wood. That next under this, is of a The ^ t h'jopic has no lefs than 202 Letters in its Alphabet,

Tan colour, light and veiny, refembling rotten Wood; and t herebeine7Vowels,whicb they combine with each of their 16

called Calambou. 6/ T Cod-